If you have been researching potential attorneys to represent you in a personal injury case, then you might have been offered a free consultation. Depending on which attorney you are dealing with, the free consultation could mean any number of things. Usually this will involve filling out a contact us form online and waiting for someone to contact you from the attorney’s office. If that is all that the free consultation entails, then you may want to turn elsewhere for legal representation. Below we will explain what a free consultation should include, and how you can take advantage of such a service.

By now you should know that not all free consultations are created equal.  For an attorney, time is money, and therefore some believe that the free consultation should merely be consist of filling out forms. You should never deal with an attorney’s office that doesn’t offer some type of consultation, because it shows that their immediate concern is not your well being.  So, what exactly should you be looking for in a free consultation, and how does it work?

First, you want to make sure that some form of conversation is involved in the free consultation.  In-person consultations are unnecessary as a first step, as they can take up a lot of time. A phone consultation can be effective and allows you to ask questions or share concerns. It is recommended that you begin contact with a phone consultation, since an in person meeting would be more costly in terms of your time and effort.  Nobody wants to waste their time, and that is why you should request a free phone consultation with an attorney’s office before visiting in person.

More specifically, the attorney or staff member should tell you whether they think you have a strong or weak case, and what further steps they would like to take with you.  Remember, if the office is not interested enough to take the time to truly discuss your case with you, how much effort can you expect them to put into your case?  A good rule to follow when scheduling a free consultation is to be prepared to discuss the case over the phone, and if you are interested afterwards, schedule an in-person follow-up.  Anything less than that would be a red-flag, and you would be better served by moving on to more interested attorneys.